


A Warm Hand

by livian



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: (because "you are the ocean's gray waves... destined to SEEK" that's why), (that's literally my entire reasoning here), Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Christmas, F/M, Gryffindor!Corrin, Pre-Relationship, Quidditch Seeker!Corrin, Slytherin!Leo, also pointless awkward cuteness, kinda hurt/comfort I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8985445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livian/pseuds/livian
Summary: Winter break is just around the corner, but Corrin is experiencing a different kind of break after one too many taunts.  It's people like that who make her wish she wasn't a Parseltongue.  That she was a normal witch, with normal powers... and who wasn't bound to be confined to a too-empty house for the holidays.As usual, Leo (the greatest wizard of their year and study-buddy extraordinaire) has an idea.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CacaoMental](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CacaoMental/gifts).



> Gifting this to CacaoMental because the inspiration for a Hogwarts AU totally came from a certain series of drawings on a certain (excellent) artist's Twitter. Ever since then, I haven't been able to shake the idea of writing something for such an AU. This was really rushed and not my best work, but I did enjoy writing more about these two cute dorks. (I know you like the non-localized names, but after P&P, I can't get myself out of the habit.)
> 
> Anyway, hope everybody enjoys this, and happy holidays!

The December air was so cold that it bit—so cold that Corrin’s tears nearly froze before they trickled down her cheeks. The wind sent her striped scarf lashing back in her wake as she ran. Her thighs burned, along with her cheeks, and her bookbag pounded against her hip with every footfall. Her shoes stumbled in the snow, but she didn’t slow down.

The hisses followed her as she ran. Not the snakes’ familiar, comforting speech—innocuous comments about the climates of their enclosures, or what they hoped to have for dinner that night, or Lilith’s friendly conversations with Corrin about her day—but the jeers of those bullies by the fireplace. They’d stopped after a firm tongue-lashing from their house’s Head Girl (Corrin uttered another silent “thank you” to Hinoka), but the sting of their comments lingered, long after the words themselves stopped echoing through the Gryffindor common room.

Corrin maneuvered around a couple of Ravenclaws, gasping out a quick apology as she passed. She blinked hard, trying to clear away her tears and the burn of the wind. Her lungs heaved, but she couldn’t stop until she was clear of the crowd of students. She was supposed to be brave and cheerful—the Gryffindor Quidditch team’s hardworking Seeker, always ready with a friendly grin (or a heartfelt apology)—not a bawling wreck, ducking her head as she passed another group of students so they might not see her cry.

It wouldn’t have hurt so much if it was only one comment. Or even two or three or ten. But the jokes piled up and up like pebbles on Corrin’s shoulders until their weight sent her crumpling to the floor like her third draft of last week’s Potions assignment.

It had been bad enough when the entire school learned that she was a Parseltongue—just like the old Dark Lord. But after last week, when Silas had finally succeeded in showing her how to conjure a Patronus… And it was a dragon. Winged, armored, with a serpentine tail and, and… She hadn’t gotten a good look at it. It had flickered out of existence after just a few seconds, when Felicia had cried out in surprise and Corrin’s joy plummeted into despair.

 _I wish…_ A sniffle rattled her ribcage and sent a spear of icy wind tearing down her throat. _I wish I had a Patronus like Silas’s. Horses are normal. The Dark Lord would’ve never been associated with something as adorable as a pony. Or—or something beautiful and majestic, like Azura’s. Or…_

A sharp gasp burst out of Corrin’s mouth as her shoes skidded over a patch of jagged ice. Her feet flew out from underneath her. She lost her grip on her bookbag, and a cascade of notes and textbooks collapsed into the snow, moments before she did.

Ice. Everything was ice. The snow seeped through Corrin’s clothes, chilling her skin. The fall had shunted the breath out of her lungs—she felt like she’d been pummeled by a Bludger—and she was too stunned to remember how to move. Her ears rang. White spots flickered in the edges of her vision like snow flurries as she gazed up at the sky, overcast and gray.

When the ringing in her ears started to subside, she heard someone calling her name, the sound partially muffled by the snow prickling cold against her ears. Another second passed, and a lean figure stepped into her field of vision. From Corrin’s angle, he was difficult to make out, but she spotted a Slytherin scarf and a familiar shock of pale hair.

_Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it._

“…Corrin, if you don’t answer me, I’m going to carry you to the infirmary myself.”

That got her attention. Corrin sat up, wincing at the feeling of her soaked blouse clinging to her shoulderblades and the sight of her school materials strewn across the ground in front of her. “Sorry,” she said instinctively. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Leo asked.

She shot him the biggest smile she could muster. A damp strand of hair clung to her cheek, having escaped from her messy ponytail as she ran. “Of course I’m sure. Anyway,” she said, “I’m pretty sure you couldn’t actually carry me all the way to the infirmary.”

Leo crouched down beside her and started picking up textbooks. He inspected each one carefully, dusting off snow and flecks of dirt before placing them back in her back. “I beg to differ. Have you seen how many books I carry around every day?”

A giggle escaped Corrin’s throat, even if it was a bit faint. “Okay, that’s a good point.”

How could she have not noticed the blond boy who strode into the Potions classroom on the first day of the previous year, armed with so many books that his bag had been close to bursting? And half of them weren’t even required textbooks. It had been impossible not to pay attention to him, when he’d taken a seat in the center of the front row, propped a slender pair of reading glasses on his nose, and started taking notes, oblivious to the whispers from the Gryffindors and Slytherins in the rows behind him.

At least, he’d appeared to be oblivious. During their first months of Potions class, Corrin had learned that Leo had hearing to rival an owl’s. If he’d been prone to tattling, she would have been punished a dozen times for the remarks she’d made about their professor under her breath. It wasn’t her fault that Iago was such a sadistic toad. As it was, her exasperated murmurs only made the corner of Leo’s mouth quirk up as Iago droned on and on about bezoars. It was this, Corrin’s quips and Leo’s smirks, that had laid the foundation for their friendship.

So Corrin knew that Leo had to hear the whispers—both the resentful comments about the young Herbology prodigy and how he’d come to Hogwarts a year early because of his genius, and the quieter, crueler remarks about his father. Who Garon had been, what he’d done as the right-hand man to the Dark Lord, and how he’d been a brilliant Slytherin prodigy once, too.

Corrin had no doubt that Leo had heard them. He just didn’t let them break his composure. Which was why she was so ashamed to be seen like this now. She tried to blink the last traces of moisture out of her eyes and kept that smile fixed to her face, even once it started to hurt.

Needless to say, Leo wasn’t fooled. He frowned at Corrin, his head tilted slightly to one side. “Are you sure you aren’t hurt?”

She rolled her eyes—an action that would have been more convincing if they were less pink and puffy. “How many times have you seen me fall off a broom now? That was nothing.” But her breath shuddered as she finished, the last vestiges of a sob. She saw Leo’s eyes narrow and internally cursed again.

“Have you been crying?”

She opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. Her shoulders slumped. “Just a little.” She cut Leo off before he could inquire. “B-but it’s nothing important! I’m worried about my History of Magic exam. It’s hard to keep all of those dates straight. And—and our game against Hufflepuff is coming up. Their team looks really good this year. You’ve seen them play, right? A-and…” She trailed off as one corner of his mouth twitched upward. “What?”

“Corrin.” It wasn’t a real smile, she realized. It was almost sad. “You do realize that you blink twice as fast when you lie, right?”

“Oh.” She picked up the last of her textbooks and slipped it back into her bag, her gaze lingering so she didn’t have to meet Leo’s eyes. “Why do you even know that?”

The chill wind made Leo’s cheeks flush and the tip of his nose glow pink. He drew his scarf more tightly around his neck and stood up. “I’ve been helping you study since last year. I know your tells.” He extended his hand.

Corrin eased herself to her feet, only realizing why Leo was holding out his hand once he brought it back down to his side again and cleared his throat. Her face warmed. “Sorry!”

Usually, Leo would have claimed there was no need to apologize. Corrin’s frequent apologies had been a source of slight annoyance for him during the early days of their friendship. That had vanished after she’d come back from their winter break last year, and he’d seen her exuberance at returning to Hogwarts after being practically imprisoned in her room during the break. _“You don’t have to apologize for every little thing”_ turned to _“you didn’t do anything wrong to apologize for,”_ with a much gentler delivery.

However, today, another smile tugged on Leo’s mouth. “I’ll forgive you,” he said slowly. “If you tell me what’s really bothering you.”

Corrin glared down at Leo’s scarf, as if the green and silver fabric itself was the source of her friend’s cunning. “You’re the worst.”

He simply raised an eyebrow, waiting.

She sighed, sending a puff of breath ghosting into the winter air. “Fine, but we’re going inside first.”

“You were the one who went dashing outside like a madwoman to begin with.”

“Say that again, and I _will_ hex you,” said Corrin, but the first hints of a real smile spread across her face.

* * *

They found themselves in the library, where they usually did their studying. It wasn’t that students weren’t allowed in other houses’ common rooms—there was no official rule against it, at least—but most of Leo’s peers were averse to having a Gryffindor in their common room, and Corrin’s weren’t any better. Anyway, she’d only recently stormed out of her common room and didn’t plan on going back there to talk about her problems with Leo in front of the pricks who had teased her in the first place.

(Also, the second and final time that Corrin had invited Leo to her common room for a study session, Hinoka had taken her aside after he’d left to ask if they were a couple. A _couple_. Corrin’s ears had flushed as red as their house logo. And the ribbing of Leo’s best friends when they studied in Slytherin’s common room was somehow even worse. She and Leo had been meeting in the library ever since.)

Leo wasn’t the first person that Corrin would choose to go to about personal problems. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a nice person—it was just that he always seemed so _together_. Their friendship was composed of quips and quills, golden afternoons poring over the minute differences between near-identical potions, and post-study session conversations when they were both half-delirious from exhaustion and Corrin blamed any rogue butterflies in her gut on pre-exam nerves.

Whenever she needed to talk about her problems, she went to Silas or Azura or Felicia or Jakob. For all their hours together, she’d never truly broken down in front of Leo before.

But the words came pouring out of her mouth in a wave too powerful for Corrin to hold back. The way Hans and his cronies had spotted her talking to Lilith while she was working on her Care of Magical Creatures essay. The things they’d said, the things they said over and over again when they thought she was out of earshot and, sometimes, even when they knew she wasn’t. How she loved her familiar, loved talking to Lilith and the comfort she brought, but sometimes, people like Hans made Corrin wish she wasn’t a Parseltongue. That she was a normal witch, with normal powers and a normal Patronus and a _normal family_ and…

And…

She hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud.

But Leo just nodded sympathetically from his seat across from her, in a secluded corner of the library. His hands rested on the table, his long fingers occasionally tapping silent rhythms on the wooden surface. “You don’t have to talk about it,” he said. “But if you’d like to, I’ll listen.”

The backs of Corrin’s clothes were still damp, but she could feel them drying in the easy warmth of the library. She watched Leo’s fingers tap again and found herself wondering if he could play the piano, the way she’d taught herself to during one of the long summers stuck in her room in a vast, empty house. She inhaled deeply, the scent of dust and vanilla book bindings seeping into her lungs.

“My guardian,” she started. “My foster father… He’s busy with work a lot, always has been. I’ve known him all my life. I never knew my real parents. When I was younger, he hired people to take care of me. Some of them were nice—like Felicia’s parents, they were great—but some of them were… less than great.” She breathed in again and exhaled, drawn-out and slow. “When I got old enough to take care of myself, I was alone a lot. I didn’t have too many friends, and the ones I did have, I didn’t get to see them a lot. I wasn’t allowed to leave the house very often. I’m still not, actually… when I go home on breaks.”

“Do you have to?” Leo asked.

“Huh?”

“Go home on breaks, I mean.”

Corrin nibbled absently on her lip as she thought. “I mean… Gunter has never said that I couldn’t. But I always have. I never really thought about it before.”

“Well, would you like to?” Leo asked. “If you could.”

“You mean, stay at school for Christmas?” she said. “Maybe, if any of my friends were staying. But they’re all going home to visit their families.”

Leo’s eyebrows crept upward toward his hairline. “And none of them have ever invited you to come with them?”

She hesitated. “A couple of them, but… I’m not going to intrude on their holidays like that. It’s not fair.”

“And you’re saying that it’s _fair_ for one of the kindest people I know to be alone and miserable on Christmas?”

It came out louder and angrier than expected, and she startled. Leo sunk lower in his seat as a cluster of seventh-year students glanced their way from the reference section. As his gaze lowered to the table, heat rushed up Corrin’s neck and pounded through her ears.

“Leo,” she started.

He lifted his hand off the table for silence. “No, just listen to me for a minute. Here’s what you’re going to do. First, you’re going to pass your History of Magic exam. Then, you’re going to hop on your broom, snatch that Golden Snitch out of the sky, to the surprise of absolutely no one, and secure victory for your team. And then…”

Silence. “And then?” Corrin said haltingly.

Two faint spots of pink glowed in his cheeks as he glanced again at the seventh-years, lowering his voice. “And then… you’re coming home with us for Christmas.”

Corrin’s stomach dropped. “Leo… Leo, what did I just say? I’m not going to barge into your family’s house and—”

“And what?” he asked. “Intrude? Corrin, you’ve met Elise. She thinks you’re amazing. And I know our older sister would love you too. If you came home with us for Christmas, it would make Camilla’s year. And Xander’s, too, for that matter. He’d love having someone to talk Quidditch with. You know he was on Hufflepuff’s team for six years, back when he went to Hogwarts.”

“But what about your…?” She stopped. She knew about the siblings’ father—who didn’t?—but she hadn’t heard Leo mention anything about their mother.

But Leo anticipated her question and shrugged. “It’s just us. And since I’m being honest, the house is awfully big for just four people. My siblings really would enjoy having company.”

Corrin knew a thing or two, or too many, about too-big, too-empty houses. And just like that, Leo had her. She swallowed the knot in her throat, commanded herself not to cry, and nodded. “Well, if your _siblings_ want my company so much…”

At her prompting tone, Leo sighed. “Would I really be saying all of this if I didn’t want you there, too?”

She grinned. “Um… maybe? What’s in it for you?”

A resigned smile crept onto his face. “I just believe that it could be a lot of fun. And I think you deserve to have a good holiday. Don’t get me wrong—my family isn’t what you’d call… normal, necessarily. They can be a bit much sometimes. Of course, you know Elise. You know how she gets when she’s excited, and during the holidays, she’s excited all the time. And Camilla is just as fond of hugging as she is, only she’s six feet tall and likely to crush you without even realizing what she’s doing. She’s also going to start calling you by various pet names within five minutes of meeting you, I guarantee you. And Xander can be… intimidating. His resting face looks a bit like he’s trying to cast a nonverbal hex on you. And he _will_ try to get you on a broom at some point during the holiday. But they’re all—”

Corrin settled her hand on top of his, just long enough to silence him. “I’m sure they’re great, Leo.” His skin was warm. Soft wings tickled the inside of her ribcage.

His face had changed from pink to a vibrant red, and his eyes flickered down to Corrin’s hand as she pulled it away. “So does that mean you’re going?”

“You’re going to write me a twelve-page persuasive essay if I try to get out of it. I might as well save us both the trouble and agree right now.”

Leo adjusted his scarf again. “I really was rambling, wasn’t I?”

“A little,” she said. Her mind was an ocean, remnants of her earlier weepiness and fresh waves of excitement crashing together inside her skull. She hardly thought about what she said next. “It was kinda cute, though.”

Another long stretch of silence. Leo’s fingers snagged in his scarf, and Corrin turned as bright red as hers as she reflected on how much that statement must have annoyed him. She silently hoped that a renegade carnivorous book from the restricted section might appear and swallow her up. (Or maybe that was just a story that Azura had made up to scare her. She wasn’t entirely sure.)

“So, um…” Corrin started.

“Well, you should probably…” Leo began at the same time, beginning to rise from his seat.

“St-study,” said Corrin. “For my exam. About the goblin rebellion? And…” She realized her mistake too late. Stating that she needed to study was not an escape route from this situation.

Leo sat back down. “I can help you with that if you want—call out dates, or…”

If there was one thing which Corrin did not want to think about, it was dates. Or studying. But she did need to go over this material a few more times before her exam, and studying with Leo was bound to prepare her for it. He was a strict teacher, but she always ended up doing well after preparing with him.

She heaved a dramatic sigh. “Fiiine. But only for a couple hours.”

He nodded. “On one condition.”

“Yes?” Corrin asked. A trickle of trepidation swept down her spine. The last time she’d agreed to do a favor for Leo, it had involved helping him with one of the monstrosities he had to deal with for his advanced Herbology class. Never again.

“Over the holiday,” he said slowly, “could you show me how you conjure your Patronus? I know the charm, but I still can’t manage to summon one.”

Corrin blinked in surprise. _The greatest wizard in our year can’t…?_ She considered voicing this thought out loud, but she quickly decided against it when she noticed the embarrassed flush on Leo’s face. Instead, she nodded and flashed him a grin.

“No problem. Of course, the first step is making a lot of good memories over the holiday to draw from. Think we can manage that?”

Leo returned her smile. “It’s worth a try,” he said, and the world was vast and warm.

**Author's Note:**

> ...Nope, sorry, I'm ending it there. I can guarantee you that whatever you can imagine re: Christmas with the Nohr fam is cuter than anything I could actually write. But rest assured, hugs and nicknames were given, Xander totally got Corrin to show him her skills on a broom, and by the end of the break, Camilla had officially adopted Corrin. (The next year, the Hoshido fam also adopted Corrin. And by the end of her 7th year, literally everyone was part of Corrin's family, because that's basically how things go, right?) And were mistletoe kisses had, you might ask?
> 
> I don't know. You decide~ ;)
> 
> Again, this was a really rushed job, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway!


End file.
